This is from a photo I took at our place in Maine. I love all the trees in Maine! The changing light throughout the day just makes me have to keep my camera very close. I am always ready for a pic ( = I have been a bit afraid to try this scene for some time but have learned quite a bit from Phil Starke’s workshops and decided to go for it. I would like to do it again and do it looser, but was at least somewhat pleased with the outcome.
I love the woods. And I love painting them. I am continuing to challenge myself to paint them more often. I find them challenging but have taken some workshops by Phil Starke and they have been very helpful in many areas, but with trees in particular. I really like his teaching style and would suggest any painter check him out! He has a great way of explaining his thought process while he paints, and I find that very helpful.
This must be one of my favorite spots because I have painted it several times now. I find the dead trees very interesting and they change so much with the different light. It is a little creek that is on the way to the Mendenhall Glacier where my husband and I walk quite often. Sometimes there are bear down in there to watch too. Pretty soon the area will be flooded with tourists going to see the glacier and hoping to catch a glimpse of a bear.
I wanted to challenge myself to try to capture the extreme warmth of this scene. I really didn’t push the colors much to do this. It was really this warm. Actually there is a nice contrast between the warm yellow/orange on the left and the much cooler violets on the right. I think this contrast is what makes this appealing.
In this 8×10 painting, I really wanted to push the warmth in the bushes to contrast all the cold in this scene. That part went pretty well, but I really struggled with the reflections in the ice. This is how it looks after 3 attempts at getting it right. At this point I have decided to let it dry before I do it again. It kind of amazes me sometimes, the things I struggle with. It certainly isn’t predictable. I am hoping that I can get it right on the fourth go round. we shall see. Anyone with helpful tips here is welcome to chime in ( =
These are each 2.5×3.5 inches. They are so much fun to paint! I guess I have always liked detail. The fun thing is, they look very detailed (they are for the size) but in fact I do have to minimize how much detail there is.
I have decided to try selling some mini paintings. These are very difficult to photograph clearly but I did my best at this point. Each of these are 2×4 inches. I do not plan to frame them because they are stretched canvas and I painted around the edges. I do plan to add some sort of ribbon or hanger to show how they c
ould be used as ornaments. They also look really cute on the mini easels that are available.
This is the view from my dining room windows. It is not always visible because of all the low clouds and rain that we get, but when it is, it is spectacular! During winter the low sun creates the most beautiful lighting effects on everything. On this evening the frost was really thick on everything. It tends to build up because the sun doesn’t get high enough to melt it off things. So the hoarfrost almost seems to grow. This made everything seem so cool and gray and soft compared to the bright warm glow on the mountain peaks. I cannot seem to get a photo of this painting that really shows the coloring well, but this isn’t too bad. As with a few of my paintings now, I have painted this a couple times (or pretty close to this) and it gets a little better each time.
This 10×8 oil painting was done of a photo taken while hiking here in Juneau. I really wanted to paint this as a challenge to myself. I loved the dappled sunshine on the shallow water leading into the picture. I think it turned out ok. I really tried not to overwork it. I may go back in and lighten up a few spots in the background, but over all I’m please with the results.
I Just love this guy or girl…this looks like a very healthy bear enjoying a bit of contemplation. In this painting, I was attempting to paint in a looser more impressionistic style. I used a 6×6 piece of gesso board which is a very smooth surface. It can be tricky to paint on when you first try it, but I think it lends itself nicely to leaving clear brush strokes. This is part of the look I am going for when I refer to impressionism. I am not trying to paint the bear’s hairs, but rather an overall fur coat.
Art with my Coffee 